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Have you ever wondered what a Degree might be worth to you in your job or career? It means a lot. Americans with an Associate Degree average nearly $10,000 more in yearly earnings than those with just a High School Diploma.

Harcourt Learning Direct offers you a way to get a Specialized Associate Degree in 11 of today’s growing fields – without having to go to college full-time. With Harcourt, you study at home, in your spare time so you don’t have to give up your present job while you train for a better one. Choose from exciting majors like Business Management, Accounting, Dressmaking & Design, Bookkeeping, Photography, Computer Science, Engineering, and more!

Your training includes everything you need!

Books, lessons, learning aids---even professional-quality tools and equipment --- everything you need to master your training and move ahead to a new career is included in the low tuition (学费) price you pay.

Your education is nationally recognized!

Nearly 2,000 American companies --- including General Electric, IBM, Mobil, General Motors, Ford, and many others --- have used our training for their employees. If companies like these recognize the value of our training, you can be sure that employers in your area will, too!

Earn your degree in as little as two years! Get a career diploma in just six months!

The career of your dreams is closer than you think! Even if you have no experience before, you can get valuable job skills in today’s hottest fields! Step-by-step lessons make learning easy. Prepare for promotions, pay raises, or even start a business of your own.

Send today for FREE information about Harcourt at-home training!

Simply fill in your name and address on the coupon (登记表) above. Then, write in the name and number of the program you’re most interested in, and mail it today. We’ll rush your free information about how you can take advantage of the opportunities. In the field you’ve chosen. Act today!

Mail coupon today! Or call the number below 1-800-372-1589. Call anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. www.harcourt-learning.com

E-mail: Harcourt@learning.com

64. What kind of people will probably answer this advertisement?

   A. High school graduates preparing to have at-home training.

   B. College students preparing to study for a degree.

   C. College students preparing to work in some big companies.

   D. High school graduates preparing for college entrance examination.

65. People can get a Specialized Associate Degree by _____________.

   A. doing full-time learning at school           B. working in some big famous companies

C. studying in their spare time                D. studying abroad for two years

66. How can you contact Harcourt Learning Direct?

   A. By visiting the office on weekdays.       B. By sending an e-mail.

   C. By making a call on weekdays only.       D. By sending a letter not later than today.

Self-employed private physicians who charge a fee for each patient visit are the foundation of medical practice in the United States. Most physicians have a contract relationship with one or more hospitals in the community. They send their patients to this hospital, which usually charges patients according to the number of days they stay and the facilities (operating room, tests, medicines that they use). Some hospitals belong to a city, a state or, in the case of veteran's hospitals, a federal government agency. Others are operated by religious orders (教会) or other non-profit groups.

Some medical doctors are on salary. Salaried physicians may work as hospital staff members, or residents, who are often still in training. They may teach in medical schools, be hired by corporations to care for their workers or work for the federal government’s Public Health Service.

Physicians are among the best paid professionals in the United States. In the 1980s, it was not uncommon for medical doctors to earn incomes of more than $ 100,000 a year. Specialists, particularly surgeons, might earn several times that amount. Physicians list many reasons why they deserve to be so well rewarded for their work. One reason is the long and expensive preparation required to become a physician in the United States. Most would-be physicians first attend college for four years, which can cost nearly $ 20,000 a year at one of the best private institutions. Prospective physicians then attend medical school for four years. Tuition alone can exceed $ 10,000 a year. By the time they have obtained their medical degrees, many young physicians are deeply in debt. They still face three to five years of residency (实习阶段) in a hospital, the first year as an apprentice physician. The hours are long and the pay is relatively low.

Setting up a medical practice is expensive, too. Sometimes several physicians will decide to establish a group practice, so they can share the expense of maintaining an office and buying equipment. These physicians also take care of each other’s patients in emergencies.

Physicians work long hours and must accept a great deal of responsibility. Many medical procedures, even quite routine ones, involve risk. It is understandable that physicians want to be well rewarded for making decisions which can mean the difference between life and death.

60. According to the passage, it is very unlikely that an American hospital is owned by _____.

A. a church             B. a city         C. a corporation            D. a state

61. According to the passage, how long does it take for a would-be physician to become an independent physician in the USA?

A. About twelve years.                         B. Eight years.          

C. Ten years.                                    D. About seven year.

62. Sometimes several physicians set up a group medical practice mainly because _______.

A. there are so many patients that it is difficult for one physician to take care all of them

B. they can take turns to work long hours

C. no one wants to assume too much responsibility

D. facilities may be too much of a burden for one physician to shoulder

63. Which of the following statements could fully express the author’s view towards physicians’ payment in the USA?

A. It is reasonable for physicians to have a large income because their work is very dangerous.

B. For their expensive education and their responsibility, they deserve a handsome pay.

C. Physicians should be better paid because they work long hours under bad conditions.

D. Physicians have great responsibility, so it is understandable that they should be well rewarded.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, was born in Kingfish, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. He was raised in Missouri where he worked in his father’s store while attending school. This was his first retailing (零售业) experience and he really enjoyed it. After graduation, he began his own career as a retail merchant.

He soon opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in name brands at low prices and Sam Walton was surprised at the success. Soon a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.

Walton's management style was popular with employees and he founded some of the basic concepts of management that are still in use today.

After taking the company public in 1970, Walton introduced his “profit sharing plan”. The profit sharing plan was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profits of the store. Sam Walton believed that “individuals don't win, teams do”. Employees at Wal-Mart stores were offered stock options (认股权) and store discounts. These benefits are commonplace today, but Walton was among the first to implement (实现) them. Walton believed that a happy employee meant happy customers and more sales. He also believed that by giving employees a part of the company and making their success dependent on the company’s success, they would care about the company.

By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart’s unique decentralized (分散的) distribution system, also Walton’s idea, created the edge needed to further encourage growth in the 1980s during growing complaints that the “superstore” was stopping smaller and traditional stores from developing. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the largest US retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the company, as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.

56. Sam Walton first made a hit in retailing when __________.

A. he worked in his father’s store               

B. he created Walton's management style

C. a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America

D. he specialized in name brands at low prices

57. What is the purpose of Walton’s carrying out “profit sharing plan”?

A. To make sure all the employees had their own shares.

B. To encourage the employees to work hard and make joint efforts.

C. To select excellent employees for his stores.

D. To make more profit for himself.

58. Which of the statements is TRUE?

A. With Walton’s management style, employees treated the stores as their own.

B. Walton wasn’t one of the merchants who first implemented stock options.

C. The smaller and traditional stores were well affected by Walton’s stores.

D. In his old age, Walton gave all the management to his men.

59. What does the underlined word “edge” in the last paragraph mean here?

A. Danger.       B. Disadvantage.         C. Advantage.        D. System.

Debbie Macomber decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She rented a typewriter, put it on the __36__ table and began typing each morning after the kids went to school. __37__ the kids came home, she moved it and made them dinner. When they were __38__ she got it back and typed some more.

Debbie followed this __39__ for two years. She had become a struggling writer and she loved every minute of it. One night, __40__, her husband, Wayne, said, “Honey, I’m sorry, but you’re not __41__ any income. We can’t do this anymore. We can’t survive on just what I make.” That night, her heart was __42__. Debbie knew, with all of the __43__ of keeping up a house, working 40 hours a week would __44__ her no time to write.

Seeing her __45__, her husband asked, “What’s wrong?” “I really think I can make it as a __46__.” “All right, honey, go for it,” Wayne __47__ for a long time and then said.

So Debbie returned to her __48__ and her typewriter on the kitchen table, writing for another two years. Wayne worked harder and their kids went without vacations and wore hand-me-downs. But the sacrifice finally __49__. 

Debbie sold her first book after five years of __50__. Then another. And another. Until today, Debbie has __51__ more than 100 books, many of __52__ have become New York Times best-sellers. Over 60 million copies of her books are in print.

And Wayne? His selfless __53__ of his wife paid off. He got to retire at 50 and now spends his free time building a private airplane in the basement of their 7,000 square-foot mansion. __54__, Debbie’s kids also got a gift more important than several summer camps. As adults, they __55__ what Debbie gave them was far more important — persistence and encouragement to pursue their own dreams.

36.   A. coffee                    B. bedside                    C. kitchen                    D. dressing

37.   A. Unless                     B. When                       C. Though                    D. Wherever

38.   A. asleep                      B. awake                     C. free                         D. convenient

39.   A. standard                   B. suggestion               C. tradition                   D. routine

40.   A. therefore                 B. however                  C. somehow                D. anyway

41.   A. making up               B. cutting down            C. finding out               D. bringing in

42.   A. broken                    B. warm                      C. touched                   D. cold

43.   A. abilities                    B. balances                  C. duties                      D. problems

44.   A. stop                        B. leave                       C. ensure                     D. permit

45.   A. achievements           B. behavior                  C. efforts                     D. sadness

46.   A. typist                      B. housewife                C. writer                      D. designer

47.   A. doubted                   B. compared                 C. delayed                    D. hesitated

48.   A. office                      B. dream                      C. state                      D. home

49.   A. paid off                   B. broke up                   C. came back               D. cleared up

50.   A. challenging              B. struggling                 C. thinking                   D. arguing

51.   A. collected                  B. published                 C. prepared                  D. translated

52.   A. them                      B. that                         C. it                            D. which

53.   A. support                   B. respect                    C. trust                        D. protection

54.   A. Surprisingly             B. Gratefully                 C. Gradually          D. Similarly

55.   A. admit                      B. realize                      C. wonder                   D. prove

 He may win the first prize in the national competition, _______ he is likely to be admitted to Peking University.

  A. in which case      B. in that case       C. in what case        D. in whose case

 I had just about given myself up for lost _________ I was spotted by a ship.

   A. when            B. while                C. as             D. until

 If you have a job, ______ yourself to it and finally you will succeed.

A. do devote        B. don’t devote          C. be devoting     D. to devote

 If I find someone who looks like the suspect, my _______ reaction will be to tell the police.

A. genuine          B. sensitive              C. immediate        D. independent

 They produced four reports, _______ of which contained any useful suggestions.

A. either           B. all                  C. none              D. neither

 —Would you please keep silent? The weather report ______ and I want to listen.

A. is broadcast                                           B. has been broadcast 

C. was broadcast                                    D. is being broadcast